The Heart of Albany Festival is the Albany Museum of Art’s annual gift to the community. The 8th fall festival, formerly ChalkFest, will celebrate art and community on Nov 15, 2025, with hopes it will be another beautiful fall Saturday. Admission is free for everyone.

In 2024, 10 professional chalk artists created 50-square-foot and larger works of art on the pavement as festival-goers enjoyed live music, art demonstrations, food, and libations on the grounds of the Albany Museum of Art, 311 Meadowlark Drive, in Albany, GA.

This year’s entertainment lineup will include the first Albany appearance of Pylon Reenactment Society, which will take the stage at 2 pm. DJ Planet X will get the festival started at 10 am and provide a soundscape between entertainment sets during the day. The Monroe High School Golden Tornado Band will perform during the morning, followed at 11 am by Ballet Theatre South and at 12:30 pm by Hannah and Jansen Barnes.

While there will be plenty to do outside, the art exhibitions inside the AMA will be open for viewing. Be sure to visit the West Gallery to see the 2nd annual Juried Southwest Georgia Student Art Exhibition. Winners will be named in four categories in both the middle school and high school divisions. Festival-goers will again vote with their smartphones to select the People’s Choice Award winner. The winning works from 2024 can be found HERE.

2025 SPONSORS

Sponsors for the 2025 festival include:

• Presenting sponsor: The James M. Barnett, Jr. Foundation;
• AMAzing Activities Area sponsor: Vine Vision;
• School Blocks sponsor: Georgia’s Own Credit Union;
• Chalk artist block sponsors: Albany Internal Medicine, Wawa, F&W Forestry, Love’s Travel Stops, Underwood Law, LLC, and U-Save-It Pharmacy;
• Volunteer sponsors: Adams Exterminators, Flint Community Bank, Phoebe;
• Helper sponsor: Southern Pediatric Dentistry;
• In-Kind sponsors: The City of Albany, Blick Art Supplies, Oriental Trading Co., Eddie’s Signs.

Businesses and individuals who are interested in being a sponsor of the festival may contact Chloe Hinton HERE.